Ben Fuller Fordney

Ben Fuller Fordney, 85, passed away in Harrisonburg on Friday, April 8, 2016. He was born on February 13, 1931 in Washington, DC. Ben attended school in Loudoun County and graduated from Loyola University of Chicago in 1953. He was the son of the late Colonel Chester Lawrence Fordney, USMC and Dorothy Nelson Fuller Fordney. He was the grandson of Major General Ben Hebard Fuller, 15th Commandant of the Marine Corps and Joseph Warren Fordney, Congressman from Saginaw, Michigan. Ben Fordney entered the Foreign Service of the US Information Agency in January 1955. His overseas assignments included duty in Hong Kong, Thailand, Nigeria, Dublin, Ireland, Ottawa, Canada and Nairobi, Kenya. He also served with the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. and he was Chief of Foreign Service Personnel with USIA. He was a press attaché in Saigon, Vietnam in 1965-1966, and was Field Operations Officer in Thailand, supervising USIS field posts during a period of communist insurgency in that country. He was awarded a Meritorious Honor Award by the Department of State for his public affairs program in Ireland in 1972. After retirement from the Foreign Service in 1981, he attempted a political career, running unsuccessfully for the Board of Supervisors in Loudoun County in 1987, for City Council in Harrisonburg and as a candidate for the House of Delegates from the 26th district in the Shenandoah Valley. He earned a master’s degree in history from James Madison University in 1987 and taught Western and American history at JMU and Blue Ridge Community College. He was author of two books on Civil War General George Stoneman, a Union cavalry officer, as well as numerous magazine articles in Civil War publications. He was the Director of the Shenandoah Civil War Associates and co-host on the Civil War on the Air radio program, broadcast on WSVA in Harrisonburg. He was a board member of the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Round Table. His wife of 57 years, Betty Anne Martz Fordney, preceded him in death on August 19, 2011. She accompanied him on all of his overseas assignments and immeasurably helped him with his foreign service, teaching and writing careers. He is survived by three sons, Christopher Randolph Fordney, Craig Warren Fordney and Jason Lee Fordney; three granddaughters, Kelly Jean Fordney, Katherine Nelson Fordney and Marielle Arwen Fordney; one great-grandchild, Ethan Hernandez; and his companion and caregiver, Shirley Anderson. He was also preceded in death by a daughter, Karen Nelson Fordney, who died of illness in Saigon, Vietnam in 1965. A Mass of Resurrection will be held at Noon on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church with Father Silvio Kaberia officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the memorial service. Private interment will be at Lakeview Cemetery in Loudon County. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be made to the Sunnyside Presbyterian Retirement Community, c/o Fellowship Fund, 600 University Blvd., Suite L, Harrisonburg, VA 22801, in his memory. Lindsey Funeral Home in Harrisonburg is handling arrangements and condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.lindseyharrisonburg.com.